Couldn't make Harrogate this year (first time for several years) so did I miss anything new? Obviously, I will have missed all of the absolute bargins that you guys "stole" from the hard up traders but was there anything new on display. I'm still looking for a milling machine and still can't decide between a new VMC or secondhand Bridgeport. Anything on show between these two machines in size? I really will need to get on and make up my mind but everytime I look at the price (increasing?) of a new VMC I think of how nice a Bridgeport I might be able to buy.
Best regards and hope you luckier types enjoyed the show.
Normally I come away from Harrogate all fired up having seen new wonders. Last year was the tracked engine and the Mercer car, year before was the Jet engine display and the stunning Koeppler (I think) rack locomotive. We went on Saturday... and were disappointed that there was little that was 'new' or 'different'. We also found the trade stands to be rather 'samey' this year with lots of the same old stuff being offered. Again I normally come away with something or other that I just couldn't live without (and then spend the rest of the year figuring out how I can use it to justify the purchase to Christine.) But this year I bought a new 'bubble', and a casting for a 3" scale water lifter rose.
Perhaps I am just getting jaded... but it all seems a little flat somehow. It was still good... but lacked it's usual sparkle.
Ian, thanks although I'm not sure if I should be pleased or not.
I have normally used Harrogate to fire my enthusiasm for the next year or so, particularly as I can't make the London shows. I also found the Mercer stunning and the guy that built it was extremely friendly and happy to talk about it with anyone (including me!!)
I certainly felt the same way after last years "midlands show" but at least that had a new location to look at.
I thought I was the only one that justified my purchase by showing the wife (after a week or two) something that I just could not have produced without the new tool. She caught me out last time though by saying "you've made one of those before", I'll need to be more careful she obviously takes more notice than I think.
I think I go through a "jaded" period every couple of years or so. Last year I went to a much smaller show at Taunton, lots of models (all standards) but very few traders; I found that quite a refreshing change from the perfection we normally see.
Thanks Ian, I'll need to try and make the Bristol show this year for my "injection of enthusiasm".
I was disappointed. I don't think that it was anything particularly wrong with the exhibition. I just started of on the wrong foot:-(.
Saturday had been a long and stressful day re-terminating and re-patching fibres and moving servers in the main computer room at work finishing at
18:30. I got up late on Sunday and nearly decided not to go to Harrogate. Eventually I set off at 10:00 from Rugby. As I got level with Wakefield on a surprisingly busy M1 in heavy rain and atrocious spray, the boss phoned me on the mobile to ask how Saturday had gone. I didn't actually answer the phone but the fact of being called when the boss specifically knew that I was going to Harrogate turned my normal grumpiness into a rather foul mood.
When I got to Harrogate I saw John S at his new job frightening the punters away from ArcEuroTrade's stand.
On the club stands I saw a couple of interesting stationary engines and a couple of interesting clock mechanisms but not much else that took my fancy. I had a look at the VMC type mills that seemed to be all over the place. I think that I would go for a second hand Beaver, Adcock&Shipley or Bridgeport before going for a new VMC if I were in the market.
I saw nothing new on the trade stands but was quite irritated to see the scrap metal being passed off as valuable tooling on some of the second hand stands. Making at least a token attempt to clean the rust off some of the offerings would allow one to see if they were worth any more than £20/ton rather than the insulting prices shown.
Maybe all of the saleable stuff went on Friday and Saturday :-(
Mark, I thought to be a boss you had to understand that there is nothing in life as important as "THE JOB", funny thing though when you get old (sensible?) enough to realize that this is NOT true then they don't want to employ you anymore.
Bit harsh Mark, I'm sure John adds greatly to the attraction of shopping from ArcEuro but I do hope his advice will remain free.
You will see from some of my previous posts I am still, and have been agonising over just this question for some time now. I guess if I keep looking and stay patient something I like will come along. I need to learn how to spot the difference between a "goodun" and some of the stuff you describe below!!
I'm sure that any proper analysis of the cost of moving this stuff time and time again between shows would soon have it destined for China and the furnace.
I used to think that but having fought with the first day crowds a few times now I'm not so convinced that too many bargins are missed. Anyway, Mark sorry you didn't have a stunning day but at least it appears I haven't missed too much this time. Thanks
It's actually a part time job, someone has to empty Ketan's wallet for him. Punters welcome, Reliant owners and tyre kickers stay away. .
Only speaking about this at the show, one large name S/H trader had a
4 jaw chuck on his stand for £75. He's had it for at least 5 years, I make a point of looking for it.
4 jaw chucks are as accurate as the bloke on the end of the chuck key so this one complete with dings and worn screws and key is about £20 more than a new Chinese one which the way things are going is now made on equipment better than we had when this S/H one was made for Noar.
So this chuck was now done about 4 shows a year times 5 years with an average distance of 500 miles per show, return. So said chuck has now done 10,000 miles together with the other tat at four and a bit quid per gallon.
So working the equation out if he had thrown this at next doors cat when he first inherited it off Noar, not dragged it kicking and screaming all round jolly old England and instead bought everyone on this group a brand new chuck free of charge he would have been quid's in pocket.
Bargains are in the eye of the beholder. I saw one gadget bought on Saturday that the guy was well pleased with. I would never have had a use for this and never bought it in a month of Sundays.
I think traders are starting to price themselves out of the market, for example an admittedly well presented Boxford for something daft like £1500 when you can get a perfectly good one form EBay for about £400 plus a tin of paint!, or a rather damaged ex-demo garden loco with no guts for about £800. There were good deals to be had but most were for new tooling, probably Polish, the second hand stuff was just silly, I came away empty handed this year and that's a first for me!.
I didn't buy much. A QC30 drill chuck, new at £25, set of allen keys, set of small number stamps and a couple more bits. Last year was the same but I put it down to the more shows you go to the less there is to buy as you already have it.
I looked on a couple of tat stalls, sorry second hand stalls, and realised that if I sorted my shop out I could exhibit the same or better.
Most of these are displaying goods that probably have a negative equity, bought when prices were high but now the bottom has fell out as regards general engineering in the UK that don't have a cat in hells chance of recouping but they can't see that they need to dump this and move on.
Good quality 5C and R8 collets were selling at £5.00 each at the show, no sorting thru incomplete dinged sets of tat that may or may not run true. So who's going to pay the £8 to £10 the secondhand people were asking ?
I actually found a bit today by accident. I was holding this big motor housing by the skin of it's teeth and knocking big lumps off when it did the 1/2 expected and leapt out the chuck and went bowling off down the shop scattering last weeks pie crusts and chip wrappers.
Not to be daunted at such an event either that big spider that lives at the back of the cutter grinder or whatever it is that lurks in the coolant tank on the little TOS grabbed it and brought it to earth again safely.
The result is I now have three scrape marks on the floor at Pi * D of the motor housing. If it had managed to reach the door I reckon I could have gained enough to get a new machine in.
......But they must sell a fair amount of stuff to justify the costs of turning up, otherwise surely they would soon stop? I must admit I bought something from one of the smaller used tool stalls, everything he had seemed a bit pricey & he wasn't really interested in haggling but he did happen to have *exactly* what I was looking for (a particular style of DTI) in apparently good condition, no-one else there had one & I'd recently missed out on one on ebay. I paid him a couple of quid more than I had bid on ebay, at least I could check it over in my hand before paying and there was no postage. In fact, I've been making good use of it today. I must agree, I don't see how this particular chap, & a few others like him, could have turned much of a profit after paying transport & stall costs. Unless they had a lot of customers like me who were looking for 'that specific item'. They certainly wouldn't attract many impulse purchases! The bigger used tool dealers may be pricey, but my experience is that they will at least haggle if they think there's a real prospect of a sale. Especially if it's the last day & it's something heavy that they don't fancy carrying back to the shop!
Apart from that I came away with a couple of bits of Ali round bar offcut for a specific job and a new book from Camden, some boxes of
5mm & 6mm drill bits (someone else is always breaking them for me ) but then emptied my wallet with a new far-eastern DRO kit for the little lathe. I'd been looking in to getting some new scales to go with an old Anilam counter that I have, but in the end this seemed the most practical option. I could probably have got the same stuff direct from the Orient via ebay for a bit less, but again was swayed by them being able to put it into my hot little hand there & then, with support within the UK and a fair chance the guarantee would be honoured plus I knew exactly what I was paying. Buying stuff like that from overseas is always a bit uncertain as to how much duty, VAT, PO charges etc you'll be stung for. I enquired at the Chesters stand about prices for new Newall DRO kit, very nice stuff but way out of my price range & would have cost a fair bit more than the lathe did!
I agree about 'the more shows you go to...', I wasn't looking for much specifically and I'm sure there's a lot less used stuff on offer that's worth bothering with anyway than there was a little while ago. On the other hand, apart from a *very* empty wallet I ought to be pleased, as I came away with all the items I was specifically looking for, including one (the DRO) that I wasn't expecting to get!
It seemed to me that there was less going on in the model areas than last time I went (2 years ago), lots of classy models but any interesting activity or anything out of the ordinary was inaccessible because of the crowds of people around it (on Saturday afternoon)
Cheers Tim
Dutton Dry-Dock Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs Vintage diesel engine service
I went through 24 years at work thinking that. I worked myself into the ground, thought a 60 hour week was acceptable if things weren't too busy and that 15 hour day, seven day weeks were reasonable when working at site for a few months. 2000 was a more hectic year than normal with a few too many managers and far too few assistants. Five years worth of anti-depressants got me back to a semi-human condition but I'm afraid that doing two people's work for one person's wage is no longer attractive to me!
Actually, I think that it was probably VSE mills rather than VMC mills that I was looking at. What crossed my mind was that the V** mills were about £4000 for which one could buy a reasonable used Adcock&Shipley, Beaver or Bridgie and tools. Or one could buy the used machine and pay someone else to recondition it and get a much heavier machine for the investment.
There again, I was never known for my common sense
No...you don't understand...this isn't the "before" photo, its the "after" - i.e., after he realised that the bloody thing would take a walk if he didn't bolt it on... ;-)
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